


How would men believe and adore

by Niedergeschlagen



Category: Les Misérables - All Media Types
Genre: Celestial bodies wank, Drabble, Fluff, M/M, Ralph Waldo Emerson quotes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-19
Updated: 2018-10-19
Packaged: 2019-08-04 05:11:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 758
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16340426
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Niedergeschlagen/pseuds/Niedergeschlagen
Summary: There was something lovely about the torturous anticipation. Despite feeling like he could vibrate out of his skin, Enjolras touched Combeferre’s hand that was resting between their bodies that had curved towards each other like parentheses.





	How would men believe and adore

They were lying on the floor by the kitchen window and staring out at the most miniscule sliver of the sky. A single bright star twinkled there, painted on the canvas of the night. Combeferre had identified it as Deneb. 

“That star is lonely,” Enjolras said. “Nothing surrounds it in space and nothing surrounds it in our eyes, either.”

“Mm.” Combeferre was staring almost dreamily at the star when Enjolras turned his head to take a better look at him. “But every night comes out this preacher of beauty, and lights the universe with its admonishing smile.”

An admonishing smile swept, too, across Enjolras’s face. “Are you quoting someone?”

Combeferre smiled. “I was paraphrasing Ralph Waldo Emerson. ‘But if a man would be alone, let him look at the stars.’ He had some choice aphorisms about nature.”

A sweetness filled Enjolras’s work-weary limbs. It crawled into the crevices of his being and warmed the blood rushing through him. His cheeks grew hot and his hands began shaking. He always wanted Combeferre but at the moment he was swooning over him as he softly paraphrased an essayist and demurely smiled at the lonesome star called Deneb far in the sky. Enjolras closed his eyes. 

Out of its own accord, Enjolras’s hand flexed, his fingers dragging against the cool floor until they found the loose, itchy fabric of Combeferre’s sweater. He wanted to grip the hem of the shirt. Instead, he just brushed his fingertips against it, savouring the thrill of not getting caught pining. 

“Penny for your thoughts?” 

Enjolras sighed. “Deneb could use a friend.” 

“We’re friends,” Combeferre said. 

“What do we have to do with the star?” 

“‘Each particle is a microcosm, and faithfully renders the likeness of the world’.”

Enjolras, whose face was still turned towards Combeferre, opened his eyes to find them nearly nose to nose. Combeferre smiled; he had laugh lines around his eyes. 

“It’s eerie how well you can quote your authors.”

“They write beautifully; they’re hard to forget.”

They were quiet for a while. Combeferre turned his face back to the sky. He pointed out a new star that had appeared as the darkness drew its heavy velvet drapes over Paris. He named the particular preacher of beauty but Enjolras forgot it as soon as the vibrating words fell off of Combeferre’s tongue. His words were drifting, they seemed to float towards the ceiling and past it, into the vast universe around them. 

“What’s the most beautiful celestial body you’ve seen?” Enjolras asked. Even to himself, his voice sounded small. 

“Of the heavenly bodies – ” Combeferre mused in his endearing, romanticising way, “ – my favourite one has been rendered obsolete by modern astronomy. The constellation of Antinous which is now merged with that of Aquila. It’s a shame.”

“The lover of Hadrian?”

“Him exactly. He was sublime,” Combeferre said. “You’ve seen statues of him. It’s hard to forget pulchritude.”

Enjolras had seen some statues of Antinous and could admit he was beautiful in a very classical way. His aquiline nose, his large eyes, his soft curls, supple cheeks and full lips. He was engaging and comely – Enjolras would not maybe have described him as ‘sublime’. 

“But of the heavenly bodies on this Earth, yours is the most bewitching,” Combeferre continued. He wasn’t looking at Enjolras but he wasn’t looking at the sky either. He was staring into middle distance, intently. There was a terseness that gripped him. 

The beating of Enjolras’s heart quickened. His hands shook harder than before. There was something lovely about the torturous anticipation. Despite feeling like he could vibrate out of his skin, Enjolras touched Combeferre’s hand that was resting between their bodies that had curved towards each other like parentheses. The warm chuff of Combeferre’s hand comforted Enjolras. He was still trembling. 

Combeferre turned his entire body to face Enjolras. Combeferre, a somnial moon, Enjolras, the crashing ocean. Between them was a long, uncrossable moon river. The light of Combeferre washed over Enjolras. 

“Enjolras, I’m in love with you.” All at once, the moonlight lit up the sky, no longer reflecting off of the Sun but radiating in its own right. Enjolras was blinded. 

He laughed and it was light. The tremor of his hands didn’t bother him when he crossed the moon river in a brisk second to press his entirety flush against Combeferre. He kissed him and a hundred stars burst aflame in the sky, out of human perception. Nebulae framed their intertwined bodies as they drifted off into a world that expected them with arms wide open.

**Author's Note:**

> The quotes are from Ralph Waldo Emerson's transcendentalist essay, Nature. The title comes from the very same work as well. The full quote is: 'If the stars should appear one night in a thousand years, how would men believe and adore and preserve for many generations the remembrance of the city of God which had been shown!'
> 
> In this particular fic, I use the word 'moon river' to mean the long, wide reflection of moon light on the water. There's no proper word for it in English and I wanted to capture the feeling the Finnish word, kuunsilta, (the bridge of the moon) has. This fic is drowning in celestial imagery but hey, I've never written anything like this. It was pretty fun. Hope you liked reading it as much as I liked writing it.
> 
> Thanks for your time, folks! Lots and lots of love!


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